History of Exploration
European and Asian Exploration of the Kimberley
There is some uncertainty as to exactly when the first Asian and European contact
was made in the Kimberley but that contact was obviously made from the
coast as exploration and the search for new
resources extended into the region. The thousands of years of uninterrupted
aboriginal occupation changed dramatically once the
first explorers and settlers arrived.
Maritime Exploration of the Kimberley
Although the first officially recorded European visit to the Kimberley
coast was by Abel Tasman in 1644, Macassens, in search of the sea slug
trepang and other undocumented visits may have preceded Tasman. William
Dampier made his first visit as a crewman aboard the Cygnet in 1688 and
documented some of early observations on the life and customs of the Aborigines around the Cape Leveque area. He returned in 1699 on the
Roebuck and collected samples and made several observations on the
botany of the region. The coast was surveyed in a rudimentary manner by
the French explorer, Baudin in 1801 and 1803 but it wasn't until the
surveys of Phillip Parker King that the coastline was mapped with any
degree of accuracy. King made 3 detailed voyages between 1818 and 1822 and named many features of along the coastline. During his 1820 voyage
on the ship Mermaid he was forced to careen and repair the boat for 16
days at a place now called Careening Bay.
Members of the crew recorded the visit by inscribing the ship's name on a large boab tree close to the beach.
Boab tree at Careening Bay
Land Based Exploration of the Kimberley
Following the exploration and mapping of the Kimberley coast a series
of important exploratory expeditions were launched that would
eventually open up this vast and isolated region.
Grey 1837-38
The first land based exploration of the Kimberley was carried out by a
young British army lieutenant, George Grey. The original plan for the
expedition was to travel overland from the Kimberley to the Swan River
colony and he landed with a large party at Hanover Bay late in 1837
just as the wet season was commencing. Conditions were extremely taxing
and the country extremely rough and difficult to traverse with horses.
Relations with the local Worora Aborigines broke down and Grey was
wounded with a spear on an encounter with a group. Grey's party only
penetrated about 50 km south of Hanover Bay before the decision was
taken to abort the expedition. The party retreated back to Hanover Bay
and was evacuated by HMS Beagle under the command of John Stokes.
Although Grey's expedition could be considered a failure his journals
form an important record and he was to first European to record the
distinctive Wandjina paintings of the Kimberley region.
Cave containing Wandjina paintings first documented by George Grey in March 1838
Wandjina paintings reproduced in Grey'sJournal
The reports of Grey and Stokes describing the favourable aspect of the land around Camden Harbour, south of Hanover Bay, led to the first attempted settlement in the Kimberley. A group of settlers from Victoria arrived by boat in late 1864 bringing sheep with them with a view to establishing a pastoral industry. However conditions were harsh, feed for the stock limited and during the dry season water was scarce. Some members of the community, including an infant died and the venture was abandoned late in 1865.
Ruins at Camden Harbour
Grave on Sheep Island, Camden Harbour
Forrest 1879
In 1879 Alexander Forest led a major exploratory expedition into the Kimberley, sailing from Fremantle to Cossack and then travelling overland to Beagle Bay. The intent included penetration to the northern extremities of the region. The party successfully crossed the Oscar Ranges but found the King Leopold Ranges too difficult for their horses. They rode along the western side of those ranges, sighted Collier Bay, and then rode back to the Fitzroy River. From there, skirting the Napier Range, they headed east to the Overland Telegraph Line in the Northern Territory.
En route to the telegraph line, Forrest crossed both the Ord and Victoria Rivers. His favourable report on the pastoral potential of Kimberley land was the trigger for the establishment of the region’s cattle industry.
Bradshaw 1891
As well as the burgeoning pastoral industry other developments were
taking place that would transform the Kimberley. Pearlers began to work out of Roebuck Bay in 1882, and the following year surveyors laid out the townsites of Broome and Derby. The gold discovery in Halls Creek in 1885 led to arrival of thousands
of prospectors although the boom was short lived. Although the pastoral industry had become established in the southern and eastern parts of the Kimberley
nothing had been developed north of the King Leopold Ranges and this
region remained largely unexplored.
Bradshaw had taken up extensive
land for pastoral purposes, sight unseen, in the area of the Prince
Regent River and established an exploratory expedition to assess the
prospectivity of the land. He led a small party out of Wyndham heading
initially north and then west toward the Prince Regent River.
Bradshaw's navigational skills appeared to be lacking as the party ended
up in the Roe and Moran Rivers approximately 50km to the north of the
land he had taken up. In April 1891 he noted some unusual rock art of a
form and apparent age greatly different to the Wandjina figures
previously described by Grey. These enigmatic figures were subsequently
referred to as Bradshaw paintings, now more commonly referred to as Gwion Gwion paintings.
In 1892 Bradshaw and others did establish a cattle run called Marigui
close to the foot of Mt Trafalgar at the entrance to the Prince Regent
River but the venture was short lived and suffered the same fate as the
abortive Camden Harbour settlement.
Original panel of Gwion Gwion paintings located by Joseph Bradshaw in April, 1891, and the sketches from his journal (photo courtesy of M Cusack)
Hann 1898
Frank Hann travelled and explored extensively throughout Australia and in 1898 set out from Derby to explore the northern part of the Kimberley and possibly take up land for cattle. He successfully crossed the King Leopold Ranges and was favourably impressed by the pastoral potential of the basaltic country around Mount House and Mount Elizabeth. Although he eventually did not take up any land himself he discovered and named the Adcock, Charnley and Isdell Rivers but did not explore the northern part of the Kimberley.
Brockman 1901
The rapid development of the cattle industry in the southern and eastern Kimberley together with other developments in the region prompted the State Government to commission the Chief Inspector Surveyor, Frederick Slade Brockman, in March 1901 to complete the mapping of the Kimberley. Brockman's party comprising 8 Europeans and 2 Aboriginal prisoners from Rottnest left Wyndham on May 13, 1901 with 70 horses and provisions for 6 months. Amongst the group was the Government Geologist, Andrew Gibb Maitland and Dr F M House, a naturalist and botanist. The party initially headed south, following the Chamberlain River before turning west and reaching the Walcott Inlet before heading north eventually reaching Napier Broome Bay close to the present town of Kalumburu.
Reaching the mouth of the Drysdale River they followed the river south before returning to Wyndham in November 1901. In total the expedition covered more than 2300km in a little over 6 months and named a number of rivers and prominent hills and ranges. There were no injuries to any of the party and although only limited numbers of aborigines were encountered good relationships were maintained with the indigenous inhabitants.
Dr House recorded and photographed many significant aboriginal art sites and numerous birds species but surprisingly there is very little recorded on the geological observations made during the trip.
The Brockman expedition essentially completed the exploration of the Kimberley and led the way for the establishment of the missions and extensions of the cattle industry into this more remote section of the region.